Straus calls for fiscal discipline in next legislative session

House Speaker Joe Straus talks to the San Antonio Express-News editorial board meeting on Thursday January 7, 2016.

Photo: Juanito M Garza, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

House Speaker Joe Straus gave attendees of Tuesday luncheon downtown a preview of what to expect during a fiscally tight legislative session.

Speaking at the Association for Corporate Growth luncheon, Straus, R-San Antonio, highlighted public education — particularly school finance reform — mental health and support for the state's small and medium sized businesses as some of his top priorities, along with maintaining a balanced budget.

With the state's comptroller forecasting a budget deficit of more than $1 billion due to declining sales tax revenues and a downturn in the oil and gas industry, Straus said it would take a lot of "thought and discipline" to achieve a balanced budget.

Straus stressed a few times the need to keep “local money in local schools,” criticizing the current system where districts considered to be “property wealthy” send funds to the state to be distributed to less wealthy districts. He called the system Byzantine and would like to see it simplified.

He also wants to see better coordination among agencies for mental health services, because mental health issues can affect “just about every family in the state of Texas.”

Straus also mentioned to the room of business professionals possibly opening up the state's Enterprise Fund to more small and medium-sized businesses, instead of using the fund to attract major corporations.

After his speech, he said he would also prioritize reforms to the state's child protective services.

The speaker made note of bills from previous sessions that showed perhaps a lack of focus on the legislators’ part. Bills to coronate a state pie (pecan) or state dinosaur aren't examples of what he hopes to emphasize in the next session. Rather, he wants to prioritize issues that don't "pit Texans against each other."

He started off his remarks describing a leader he saw on national TV the night before, one who had visibly grown with confidence and stage presence throughout the night. He was referring to Rick Perry's performance on "Dancing with the Stars."